The time is changing so rapidly with advent of modern technology that now it seems that we will soon be able to reach from Sydney to London in just 2 hours with the help of a new supersonic vehicle. HiFIRE is the name of this hypersonic glider which has been tested several times and its latest flight test was recently held at South Australia.
Modern Hypersonic Glider
In 2006, the Project HiFIRE started which consist of a glider that can attain the speed of Mach 7.5 with the help of rockets. Previously, the tests were conducted in Hawaii at the US Pacific Missile Range Facility. The purpose of latest flights was to check avionics, control system and design assembly of the project.
The vehicle is provided initial boost by few rockets and then a scramjet engine increases the speed up to 8 times the speed of sound on the trajectory of hypersonic glide. According to previous records, this glider has attained the speed of Mach 7.5 (5710 mph) while flying at the altitude of 278 km.
According to Prof. Michael Smart of University of Queensland (UQ), hypersonic flights can easily make air travel faster and cheaper not only around the world but also in space.
The situation can completely be changed with emergence of HiFIRE. Missiles with this technology will achieve speeds of the suborbital warheads that would provide them the ability to destroy anti-missile systems.
Now, countries like USA and Australia are interested in these missiles and we will be able to get cheaper and faster travels after arrival of this technology in the market.
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